Korean Job Discussion Forums

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

My hagwan experience so far has been mostly positive... aside from me getting in trouble a few times for making stupid cultural mistakes (I'm sorry I sat on the desk! My teachers at home did it all the time...), things haven't been bad. But the past two weeks I just get the feeling that things are going to turn against me at some point. My boss asked if it was okay to be 5 days late paying me and I said okay since that would move it from the 29th of the month back past the first when I'm sure she gets tuition checks... she says she's gonna pay me New Years Eve though... I just get the feeling that she resents me because she had to pay me alot more than the Korean teachers (I'm the only waygookie and it took her 5 months to find me... basically she wanted a woman, but couldn't and settled for me). It's not that I think she's a bad boss or has cruel intentions, I just think that money is and always will be her motivating factor (as seen by she doesn't turn on the heat to save money in the hagwan). I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be 11 monthed (and I'm only finishing my second month at the moment). I guess if I still feel that way when the time draws near, I'll make a preemptive strike just quit the last time I get paid.... I dunno, I may also just be paranoid from all the horror stories I hear...

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

The thing that bothered me the most getting yelled at about was that my last class of the day ony has two students and there are two teachers... so one day, one of the students is sick, making one student and two teachers. Well, the Korean teacher sits down and does some one on one work with the student, who since he probably has ADD, was working very well with that kind of environment. So I'm sittin' there twiddling my thumbs and trying not to disrupt their work. Well, I don't want to appear like I'm sitting on my rear, so I grab a broom and start sweeping the room (I have to clean my room every day after class).

Next thing I know, wanjangnim walks in and starts ranting about something or another in Korean, then the other teacher explains to me that she was pissed that I did that. I was upset that 1) she yelled at me in front of a student, thereby undercutting any authority I'd worked a month to gain and 2) why didn't the Korean teacher tell me this was unacceptable? Especially since she and I have been friends and when I first came here, I ate with her family probably 5 times a week.

Either way, I don't think I've gotten in trouble for actual teaching technique yet, though it's hard because I'm required to teach 3 books, plus have story time every week.

Oh another thing that sent up warning signals for me was that I've heard mention that my director is installing cameras next year. I'd like to think it's for the safety of the children, but I just can't put it past that if this happens while I'm still teaching, that my teaching is going to start getting nitpicked. I'm open to constructive critisism, but I've only noticed the bad kind of critisism here...

Plastic B · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Daejeon no more

I am threatened with dismissal so often that I am thinking of arranging a weekly timeslot with the director for that purpose. Last time it was for allowing two of my teenage boy students to put up on the wall, pictures they'd drawn of Henry and Mudge with guns and knives in their hands. When I explained to the director (through an interpreter, naturally) that the boys thought it was 'fun', he screamed at me at the top of his voice ~ in the longest English sentence I've heard him utter.

"NOT FUN! KOREA NOT FUN!".

Now if anything disturbs myself or my fellow Waygook co-workers you can imagine what our latest catch phrase is...

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

Hahaha... well, working in Korea ain't fun anyway.

When I first started getting yelled at, it really upset me cause I'm used to being very good at my job. But then after I realized it was going to be a weekly occurance no matter what I do, I stopped letting it get me down.

How about you?

Plastic B · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Daejeon no more

Water off a duck's back by now. Actually, at the moment my hagwan is so busy and over-subscribed with students and under-complemented by teachers there is no way the director would let me go. We literally cannot cover the classes we have on now, let alone lose another teacher. At our last confrontation he asked, "When can you leave?" and when I replied, "That's not up to me, I will leave when you tell me to." He immediately backed down and gave me my last warning. My third last warning by my count...

Blue Flower · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2004 2:01 am Post subject:

It's reading stuff like this that makes me realise how lucky I am. Not meaning to gloat or anything. *beep* that, your boss is verbally abusing you. Thats just not kosher.

And rylees - how does quitting in your eleventh month, before he's fired you, give you the goods? Doesn't seem logical.

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

Getting fired from a job looks bad on a resume... quitting doesn't look good, but also doesn't look bad. Plus if I time things right, I can avoid losing a month's salary.

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

Also, I am glad to hear that there are people that have great jobs over here... I certainly envy you, but it's good that you found jobs you like.

Plastic B · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Daejeon no more

The weird thing is, I actually really like my job, get on well with the students, produce great results ~ acknowledged by my director when he gave me a 70,000 Won bonus when my students blitzed the field in a recent intra-school reading contest, it's just the personal relationship between he and I that makes my job painful.

I think it all stems back from the time when I turned up to work with two black eyes I received as a result of defending a girl who was thrown down a set of stairs by her waygook boyfriend, early in my contract. When I told him the girl worked at a bar he said it was 'beneath my dignity as a teacher to even know someone who works at a bar'. His - translated - words, my emphasis.

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

I don't get verbally abused, more like a guilt trip I guess... I dunno, hard to explain...

But the job is doable and as long as it remains so, I'm not going to leave it. I'm not expecting the perfect job and overall, it's still better than most since I get paid on time and what not...